WITH the debate about the atmosphere at Anfield — or lack of it — never truly going away and envious glances being cast towards Celtic Park’s rail seating section, which has brought noise, colour and occasion to matches where once there was none, I travelled up to Glasgow with Paddy Hoey for Celtic’s game versus Kilmarnock to experience it for myself.
WITH the league title already in the bag and Kilmarnock not the most mouth-watering of opposition, I wondered if the safe standing section at Celtic would be in full swing as we headed north bright and early on a sunny Saturday morning.
Paddy reassured me it would be. While tucking into a fry-up complete with haggis at the gloriously picturesque Tebay Services, the Celtic-supporting Ulsterman, who regularly makes the 430-mile round trip to Parkhead from Crosby, said the 2,975 capacity section had transformed the atmosphere — even for the most meaningless or lacklustre of fixtures.
It’s a crucial clarification when talking atmosphere. We all know Anfield can do it — only a year ago we were celebrating a famous European night of noise and passion after the Reds defeated Borussia Dortmund 4-3. It was up there among the very best. But it doesn’t happen enough. Could it, and should it, happen routinely? And does the current situation at Anfield — an all-seater stadium with no officially designated section for those wishing to create a noisy and colourful backdrop — help matters?
In a way, this was a better test. Had we been heading to Scotland for an Old Firm game or a European match the impact would have been harder to judge. Of course they’re up for this…
After arriving in Glasgow, and following a pint and a chat with some lads from the Green Brigade, who campaigned for the safe standing section and worked hard with the club for five years to make it a reality, we leave the Celtic Supporters Club and head for ‘Paradise’.
As it happens, I stood for 90 minutes on my last visit to this ground 14 years previous — a 1-1 draw in the UEFA Cup sadly best remembered for that gobshite El Hadji Diouf spitting at Celtic fans. On that night a steward informed me that my allocated seat had been forcibly removed by a Rangers fan in an Old Firm match just a few days before. Standing it was then.
It helps makes the point, though, that standing at football happens anyway. I’m a Kop season ticket holder and home and away this season I’ve stood in a seated section for 90 minutes-plus alongside thousands of others. The problem is it isn’t particularly safe to do so. You can fall back, you can fall forward — everyone is sporting bruises and cuts to their legs. More worrying is the impact on younger fans. We all love a wild celebration when limbs are flying everywhere and strangers embrace, but what of the fans with their kids, trying to protect their little ones from the madness all around? It’s not a great environment for them — and there’s the added bone of contention when some fans want to sit and some want to stand. Who’s right and who’s wrong?
We meet John Paul Taylor outside the ground, Celtic’s Supporter Liaison Officer (SLO). It’s clear that he’s front and centre, as per his role, in representing the fans to the club — he chats away and says hello to scores of passing supporters as we stand in the sunshine before handing us tickets for the safe standing section and staying with us to watch the first half. Like every other Celtic fan I talk to on the day, he’s clearly proud of what has been achieved.
It’s my second positive experience of people in this role having been similarly impressed with Borussia Dortmund’s SLO. It’s a role advocated by UEFA. At Liverpool, I couldn’t tell you who the SLO is. Compare and contrast Celtic’s SLO page with Liverpool’s. It’s a side point, but it’s an important one. The section has been achieved because of a direct and meaningful relationship between club and fans.
Once through the main turnstiles our tickets for the safe standing section are checked twice more by stewards before we reach our allocated space. And this is another key point. I first stood on The Kop in 1990 for a less-than-glamorous League Cup tie versus fourth division Crewe Alexandra.
Then, you paid on the gate, climbed the stairs to the back of The Kop and found your way once inside. Most regulars had a preferred ‘spec’ — but you could go where you liked. In the big games, on the big nights, you could end up anywhere when Liverpool scored — swept from your feet, caught on a wave of celebration, dodging crush barriers; the atmosphere was often wonderful, the experience often terrifying.
What I experience at Celtic isn’t that. Far from it. It’s not an open terrace. It’s not an easy bunk from another section of the ground or through ancient turnstiles. It’s a strictly stewarded standing section with barriers front and back. It’s roomy — there’s plenty of space to jump about. But you can’t fall forward, or back, your shins are safe and so are your kids. Plus you have an allocated, ticketed and numbered space — a space that can be transformed with a key to unlock seats into a seating area for European nights (as UEFA don’t allow standing in their competitions).
The section quickly fills up — men, women, children, teenagers — fans of all ages. There’s a good vibe and any fears over standing are not reflected here.
To my left, a representative of Liverpool’s Supporters’ Committee is also in attendance. JP tells me a string of representatives of English clubs have been up to experience the section this season, from fans to club officials. In Glasgow, it’s rightly seen as a success story and there is a waiting list for season tickets in the area. Fans are hopeful that at some point the section will be expanded.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BSqkCpAhWhV/?taken-by=theanfieldwrap
Before the match has even begun, flags swirl, scarves spin and the songs are underway. At the front of the section, two lads sacrifice much of their match-watching to cajole and choreograph, kicking off a songbook celebrating club, manager and players stretching throughout the duration of the match.
There’s a Poznan-style “Huddle” (gloriously sang in the Glaswegian twang) and an old-school back and forth from opposite ends of the ground (for older readers, think “Main Stand, Main Stand give us a song”, that kind of thing).
On it goes, into the second half. And all this despite a largely pedestrian-paced game of football. Kilmarnock show little in the way of attacking intent, and when they do nick one, Celtic simply up their game to ensure the three points is theirs.
“Can you imagine this section for the Rangers match?” says JP. And I can. Because not everyone’s going mad. They’re moving about and singing and shouting, getting behind the team — but you can tell there are more gears to go to for the bigger tests. Yet it still beats Anfield hands down for a routine fixture.
“How does it compare to the Premier League?” JP asks.
I credit Stoke and Palace, who create good noise at their grounds from my experiences there. But at Anfield? It’s up and down and that the debate over atmosphere and culture continues and is reignited so often — by fans, by Jürgen Klopp — says it all, as do the depressingly unoriginal chants from the away section of Anfield Road: “Is this a library?”, “Where’s your famous atmosphere?”.
It’s easy to romanticise the past, but Liverpool does have a history of passionate support. How much has gone and how much remains will always be the subject of debate, but what’s more important is the desire to defend the heritage remains. Many match-goers try to maintain The Kop tradition of singing, of flags, of colour — of what we have traditionally known as Liverpool support.
https://twitter.com/SpionKop1906/status/727449032663175168
When The Kop made its last stand in 1994 there was a campaign led by Kopites against seats. Since then we’ve seen Reclaim The Kop — a campaign to try to save the traditional cultures of the terraces, there was the relocation of fans to Kop block 306 to create an unofficial singing/standing area of sorts, and now we have Spion Kop 1906 and others, who focus on continuing the tradition of bringing flags and banners into the ground.
Spirit of Shankly this week have announced final steps towards an official stance on rail seating with a vote to be announced inside a month.
https://twitter.com/spiritofshankly/status/857182070262697990
https://twitter.com/spiritofshankly/status/857183221917921282
The direction of travel on the subject suggest that, at the very least, a debate, a true discussion with consideration of the facts, around safe standing is worthwhile. The desire to stand is on show at every Liverpool match. Not from everyone. But why not create a section and give people the choice? Anyone with any doubts about its effectiveness and value within a football ground should visit Celtic.
https://twitter.com/TheAnfieldWrap/status/816993346799489024
Right now the debate is closed down. It’s a flat no from Liverpool FC minus consultation with regular match-going fans en masse.
Hillsborough is the driving force of this, with the official stance of the Hillsborough Family Support Group influencing the club’s stand.
References to the Taylor Report are also frequently made.
Yet by know we know the truth of Hillsborough. It is established fact. The disaster was not caused by standing and the Taylor Report primarily blamed overcrowding, stadium layout, and poor policing.
Further, as detailed above, the rail seating sections proposed in 2017 are a million miles from the caged open terraces of the 1980s.
Safe standing, meanwhile, has since been successfully, and safely, introduced in Europe, the USA and Canada.
On the way out of Celtic Park I spot a man with his son, who is wearing a Liverpool top. They too have travelled up for the day to sample the atmosphere and take in the match in a standing section at a more affordable price. It was smiles all round.
Maybe one day he can have the same experience at the ground of the club he supports. I for one hope so.
Recent Posts:
[rpfc_recent_posts_from_category meta=”true”]
Pics: David Rawcliffe-Propaganda Photo
Whilst I respect the views of the HFSG entirely I think it is time to open this debate and acknowledge that it is possible to have safe standing in 2017 – if anything the subsequent reports into Hillsborough have clarified that it wasn’t down to supporters (as you say). Really interesting to hear about your experience Robbo and only confirms what I already thought. It can’t come soon enough as far as I am concerned as the standing and jumping around in the seating sections at the minute are far more of a concern.
Imagine an Anfield Champions League semi final against Man Utd with 7000 safe standing tickets sold – it would rival St Etienne or Dortmund only safer!!
Great video. I think Anfield is a perfect place for such a section. Like you say, whilst I hugely respect the families of the HFSG and the reasons for their view, the rail seating is a million miles away from the old terraces and with the real causes of Hillsborough known, I don’t believe there is any reason why this can’t be brought to the club.
It would allow increased attendance and a great atmosphere, which is what Anfield should be known for again. With the stadia that the Manchester clubs, Arsenal have, and Chelsea/Spurs are getting, to couple this on the Kop with the continued redevelopment would make Anfield one of the best places in the world to play/watch football again.
im a Celtic fan. the thing is Mike the good thing about it is that it doesnt increase the attendance. 1 locked up seat for league games. 1 unlocked seat for Champions League games. the attendance in that section hasnt risen since the safe standing has been put in . so in that case it is a good argument for having it. if it was put in an area of the kop which had a 3000 capacity then there would still bee a 3000 capacity of safe standing seats. hence the name safe standing. this is the way forward for you guys arguing for it. because it doesnt increase the cappacity as you say and it is miles and miles more safe than standing in a seated kop and scoring 2 goals in the dying mins of a match against Man utd when they are leading 1-0. can you imagine the chance of danger with super exited fans…….in a CELTIC vs rangers game in the late 90s when the new stadium was built a fan fell from the top teir to the bottom teir due to over excitement in the seated area. Something which could never happen with this new safe standing ,rail seating/standing area. You must campaign for this because although im a Celtic fan i love to see the flags and colour etc you Liverpool fans bring to a game on european nights…just imagine the whole Kop was a SAFE STANDING , RAILED STANDING / SEATING SECTION…WOULD TAKE YOUR BREATH AWAY…
How does it allow for increased attendance when the seats remain in place (but retracted) ready for UEFA games? Unless the seats provided on occassion are smaller?
Quite simple mate. Safe standing usually has a ratio of 1 and a third to 3 so 300 seats becomes 400 people.
In Celtic’s case the ratio is 1:1. Capacity doesn’t change.
To be fair, even at 1:1 I would support it. I get all the arguments about treading carefully and I grew up on the Kop so wouldn’t advocate a return to that kind of terrace, but the fact remains that the modern day football experience is crap. Crap and expensive. I can take one, but not both.
-and there’s the added bone of contention when some fans want to sit and some want to stand. Who’s right and who’s wrong?
=============
That’s an easy question to answer when people have paid to enter a seated section.
That’s fair enough Tom but the reality for a number of matches is that, if you don’t stand, you don’t see the game. Years of stewarding/policing haven’t changed this so it’s not going to change in the future.
You would be technically right to stay in your seat and tell the person in front to sit down, but unless you can get the 40 rows in front of them to sit down too, you won’t be watching much footy for your ticket price.
I would urge the HFSG to send delegates to Celtic Park to inspect it thoroughly, dare I say it – take a game in.
It must still hurt these people dearly what happened to those who perished at Hillsborough and as a Celtic fan they’ve always had our support collectively and will always have it. I respect their thoughts too but it’s something you need to see and feel before making any decisions.
I’m glad you enjoyed the trip.
HH YNWA
Interesting read! You may be interested to know the barriers(so to speak) placed in Celtics way trying to get the green light for the safe standing project. It took the best part of 5 years before any progress was made. The evidence of safe standing in Germany was pretty much dismissed out of hand, as if it wasn’t relevant! I can only imagine what you are up against down there, where there are additional hurdles to clear in the form of legislation I believe. I suppose though the biggest hurdle is challenging the public perception that safe standing will be a return to overcrowding etc.
I wonder if Liverpool have other concerns though – where would a safe standing section at Anfield be located? Is it feasible from an engineering point of view(slope etc)? What about the fans already in that area?
Good luck with your campaign. It would be great to see more grounds where fans have the choice to stand. The improved atmosphere makes the game a bigger spectacle and ultimately makes the younger fans desperate to go back for more. Hopefully at Celtic Park we will be able to add more standing areas in the next couple of years.
Hi Gareth, good article and great video. I think the point that has to be emphasized here, is that it is NOT standing that is unsafe – it is overcrowding. I have the utmost sympathy for the families and loved ones of those lost at Hillsborough, and I totally understand the reluctance of many to oppose any changes towards anything other than 100% all-seated stadia. There are however, other facets to this dilemma, many of which are simply closed to discussion, due to the painful events of the past. That reluctance is inhibiting any kind of progress, with many people feeling that it is somehow a betrayal of those who were lost, to enter into any kind of dialogue on the subject of safe-standing. As you have seen from personal experience, safe-standing is exactly that. You need an allocated ticket for the seat you will be standing at, and only so many people can stand in any one row and any one part of the section and stadium. It works exactly the same way as seating does, and it’s equally as safe. There is no opportunity for overcrowding – and we are all greatful for that. The dangers from previous years came when football fans were herded into sections like cattle, with no concerns for their safety or well-being. This simply does not happen now – either in seated sections, or in safe-standing sections. That message needs to get out to those who oppose it, and perhaps once they see the reality of the situation (particularly through articles like yours) they will at least be willing to open themselves to discussing it. It is unfair to the current generation of football fans, to penalise them for the criminals actions of those who governed the game in previous years. Times have changed, and so have football stadiums. Again, and I can’t emphasize it enough, it is not standing that is unsafe – it is OVERCROWDING. Hail Hail, YNWA, BobbyMurdoch (Celtic Fan).
Excellent mate. Agree with every sentence of these well made points.
I’m 67 and got myself transferred up to section 111 five years ago, the safe standing section in Celtic Park (Paradise). The lad in the ticket office thought I was nuts, I told the lad I was brought up in the old jungle which held 20,000 lunatics. I love up in 111, we sing from start to finish regardless of the score and that’s the way it should be. Last but not least I was at Ibrox when 66 were killed but our safe standing section is amazingly safe
As an LFC fan (who adores Celtic!), I am torn. I was at Hillsborough. I wouldn’t want to dilute the feelings of the families in order to create an upsurge in atmosphere. There is no doubt, Anfield’s atmosphere can be flat. This would do wonders for it. However, I have always vehemently supported seats only. I am split I am afraid.
As someone who went through the trauma of actually being there at Hillsbourgh that day, it’s very hard to argue with you. My own memories of that day watching on TV are still vivid and heartbreaking, The fact that I had experienced some real perilous situations before that time in football grounds made it more personal. The all-seater stadium impasse that we have now will never bring back the memories that we had, the good and the bad. The safe standing areas will never bring back the sways and the surges of the crowds in the Kop or the Jungle, It does take away the risk to life and limb to people who stood on those terraces often at a risk to themselves. I would ask the HFSG to go and look first hand at the Celtic experiment and not be swayed by how the media has portrayed this so far.
H8UTD – totally understand your sentiments and agree entirely. It must have been God awful to have witnessed that. I can remember watching the documentary on TV with my Dad and brothers…not a dry eye in the house.
The Green Brigade and the rest of the Rail Seating Section lights up Celtic Park even in “nothing” fixtures with reference to Anfield being quiet at times.
It’s not a Safe Standing Area as many refer to it- it’s Rail Seating. There’s no chance of overcrowding and it’s been designed exceptionally well with safety in mind. Celtic’s Board has to be complimented to embrace the project.
Liverpool and other EPL Clubs should visit Celtic Park to inspect it etc,
Personally I still sit but giving people the choice to stand is fair and it’s working.
God Bless the 96. YNWA. HH
As someone who was in the Leppings lane that day , I urge Liverpool F C to look into this
It’s called safe standing for a reason
I can understand how sensitive this issue is for LFC and HFSG, and despite everything they have achieved together, I can’t help but feel one final challenge lies in front of them. And that challenge is to embrace what has been accomplished so successfully at Celtic Park. Go to a game and experience “safe standing”; request the Health & Safety records of Section 111 from Celtic FC since its inception; speak to supporters and club officials about what it took to achieve it, and what it takes to manage it. This is football of a different time. The dark days of the 1970’s and 80’s are gone. Fan safety is paramount and introducing this type of terrace is not a leaky gateway back to those days. It has been stated quite clearly in the article that safe standing would actually be SAFER than the what takes place at Anfield currently, with some fans choosing to stand and some choosing to sit. Can you imagine if LFC and HFSG were the ones to challenge and chase an amendment to the current legislation, thus ensuring enhanced safety for fans but in a modern, safe standing environment ? Liverpool as a club would benefit. Supporters would flock back to a re-vitalised stadium. Perhaps even the harrowing spectre of that fateful day in Sheffield could be laid better to rest. That to my mind, would be an emphatic legacy to the loved ones lost at Hillsborough.
@H8UTD – have the families been consulted on the matter, or is it just assumed that they would object? I would have thought they more than anyone would be fully aware that standing didn’t cause the disaster.
I can see why seats only was deemed the solution, however I would argue that safe standing would also be just as effective at preventing another tragedy.
The key argument for safe standing is that standing in a seats-only section like the Kop is extremely unsafe. Any additional benefits in atmosphere is a secondary bonus on top of ensuring peoples’ safety.
As a Celtic fan I would say the safe standing at Celtic Park is not close to terracing. It’s so far removed from what existed in the past. It’s a completely different conversation that needs to happen for safe standing to come to England.
It’s administered in the same way to seated areas. Your ticket has a section/row/seat no. The area only contains season ticket holders. The ST cards have ‘rail seating’ on them and are a different colour to ST’s in the other parts of the stadium.
You have to show the ticket at least twice before getting to your seat. There’s a metre-high barrier and plenty of stewards to prevent people hopping over into the safe standing section.
The thing I noticed at my first game there was just how much space there actually is, you’re not banging your shins off seats in front, there’s no danger of tripping or falling.
For anyone that has any doubts, try and experience it for yourself.
For all the valid points here and Liverpool can lead the case for safe standing, it would need government and premier league rule/law change to be allowed to implement this. Liverpool cannot do it in isolation.
And we all know how much the government like giving football fans a fair hearing.
I’m a Celtic season ticket holder, and I prefer sitting, but I agree that the stand has been a great success and I would be quite happy for them to extend it as long as they keep plenty of seated areas too. There is no reason why you can’t have both. I hope that Liverpool do put it to a vote because even if the answer is still no, at least it was an answer reached fairly with debate.
This a great article. I have always been against going back to standing at football. I often watch Celtic on tv and admire the noise and atmosphere they create. I love going to watch Liverpool but sometimes when ur sat there on a Sunday playing average joe it can be more painful than enjoyable . If this standing section can be policed In a safe manner maybe we should look at it , starting with a small section getting big as it proves it safety. The feeling of the HFSG must be listened to
Good article. Orlando City Soccer Club in MLS has a safe standing section in their new stadium, which I will be checking out in about a week. So far I’ve heard nothing but positives! Safe-standing capacity is 3,800 out of a total stadium capacity of 25,500. The team is 4-0-0 at home, and several of the players have credited “The Wall” and the atmosphere it creates.